Palace Hotel, originally built as Broken Hill Coffee Palace, is a heritage-listed

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

at 227 Argent Street,

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

, City of Broken Hill,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. It has also been known as the Mario's Hotel and Mario's, and is known for being the location of many of the scenes in the 1994 Australian

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film ''

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens (played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a transgender woman (Terence S ...

''. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999, with the entry expanded in January 2025 to reflect its importance to LGBTQIA+ history.

History

The hotel was originally built as a

coffee palace A coffee palace was an often large and elaborate hotel, residential hotel that did not serve alcohol (drug), alcohol, most of which were built in Australia in the late 19th century. A modest temperance hotel was opened in 1826 by activist Ger ...

by local members of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, as the Broken Hill Coffee Palace. It was designed by

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

architect Alfred Dunn and built in 1889 at a cost of £12,190, opening on 18 December that year. The coffee palace was not a financial success, running at a loss for its first three years, and by July 1892 media reports indicated the company and lessees were "stone broke". In that month, the lessee applied for and was granted a liquor license, at which time it was renamed the Palace Hotel. Around 1980, the owner at the time, Mario Celotto, painted a mural of Botticelli's Venus on a ceiling, and he later paid Gordon Waye, an Indigenous artist from

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

, to paint all the other mostly landscape themed murals in the hotel, making the hotel a tourist attraction. The 1994 Australian

film, ''

'', filmed many of its Broken Hill scenes in the Palace Hotel, which producer Al Clark described as "drag queen heaven". The movie describes the hotel's murals as "tack-o-rama". In 2009, Esther La Rovere bought the hotel. By this time, there were many international tourists visiting the pub because of the film.

Heritage listing

Palace Hotel was listed on the

on 2 April 1999. The listing was updated in January 2025, so that it "recognises the vibrant LGBTQIA+ history that has flourished within its walls", after it had become a "symbolic meeting place", and become part of people's coming-out stories.

References

Attribution

External links

*
The Palace Hotel, Broken Hill
at Visitnsw.com * {{cite web , last1=Appel , first1=Greg , title=Broken Hill's Palace Hotel has welcomed gamblers, miners and drags queens throughout its long history , url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-11/palace-hotel-broken-hill-drag-queens/100234822 , website=ABC Radio National , publisher=

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, date=11 July 2021 New South Wales State Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Broken Hill, New South Wales Pubs in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register